How I voted this time around

Several people have asked which candidates I supported in the Democratic primary and why.

First, I want to say that I think we have a strong field of candidates overall. I listened to the Democratic and nonpartisan Atlanta Press Club debates and researched the candidates as carefully as I could. In many races, my decision came down to choosing among two, three, or even four good options.

Here’s where I landed.

One additional note: I generally advise folks to skip the “State Democratic Party Questions” on the ballot.

These are what I think of as “push poll” questions. The preferred answers are usually obvious, and the questions have no legal effect. Both parties use them, and in my view they mostly serve to make the ballot longer, slower, and more complicated for voters.

I believe they are largely a waste of time, and I wish party leaders would stop placing them on primary ballots.

In the nonpartisan judicial races, I voted for all four challengers. I have been deeply disappointed by recent Supreme Court decisions regarding presidential immunity, voting rights, and reproductive healthcare. I believe Georgia’s current conservative justices have too often aligned with those decisions.

I hope you will consider supporting:

• Miracle Rankin

• Jen Jordan

for the Supreme Court of Georgia.

I also support Will Wooten and Fatima Felton for the Georgia Court of Appeals.

For Governor:

I would have been proud to support any of the four major Democratic candidates: Keisha Lance Bottoms, Geoff Duncan, Jason Esteves, or Michael Thurmond. My decision ultimately came down to electability — which candidate I believe has the best chance to defeat the Republican nominee in November.

Keisha Lance Bottoms served Atlanta ethically and effectively as mayor and clearly has the experience and leadership skills to serve as governor.

Mike Thurmond has long been one of my favorite public servants in Georgia. Few people can match his combination of administrative and electoral experience, and he remains thoughtful, principled, and impressive.

Geoff Duncan earned my respect by standing on principle under enormous pressure from elements of his former party. I admire both his courage and his willingness to challenge political extremism.

Jason Esteves impressed me from the beginning of the campaign. When I heard him speak in Rome, I was struck by both his command of the issues and his willingness to genuinely answer questions instead of relying on canned responses. He is energetic, thoughtful, and future-oriented.

In the end, I voted for Jason Esteves. That said, I remain open-minded and would gladly support any Democrat who advances.

For Lieutenant Governor:

Josh McLaurin won me over in the debate.

For Secretary of State:

Dana Barrett has the strongest background and experience.

For Attorney General:

I chose Bob Trammell in a very close decision. Tanya Miller would also be an excellent choice.

For Commissioner of Agriculture:

Another close call, but I voted for Katherine Juhan-Arnold.

For Commissioner of Insurance:

My friends are divided on this race, but I chose DeAndre Mathis.

For State School Superintendent:

Any of the candidates would do a good job. I ultimately supported former National PTA president Otha Thornton.

For Commissioner of Labor:

I voted for Nikki Porcher.

For Public Service Commissioner, District 5:

We need Craig Cupid on this important board. Georgia would benefit from another strong consumer advocate serving on the PSC.

Those were the contested races on my ballot.

I’m also proud to support these unopposed candidates:

• Jon Ossoff for U.S. Senate

• Shawn Harris for U.S. House

• Vincent Mendes for Georgia House District 13

• Shonna Bailey for Floyd County Commission Post 5

However you decide to vote, please get out and vote.

Polls are open today from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at your regular precinct location. Today is the final day of the Democratic primary and nonpartisan election.

Even if we disagree on some races, participating matters.

And please remember those last four names when general election voting rolls around this fall.

Playing with Firefly

I began using PageMaker software for desktop publishing when I bought my first Mac in 1988. PageMaker's parent company Aldus was later purchased by Adobe which transitioned me to its InDesign desktop publishing software and I have stayed with it through many revisions for years including purchasing the Adobe Creative Suite of software that included InDesign with PhotoShop, Illustrator, and more. Now it is a subscription service and I, addicted as I am to using the stuff, pay an exorbitant monthly fee so that in my eightieth year I can continue to play with it. A relatively new part of the Adobe Suite is called Firefly. It is an AI image manipulating program that, to this old geezer, is amazing. 

I have been playing with it the last few days.

On Saturday when I got to the Clocktower for our first regular First Friday Tour in a couple of years -- the wooden superstructure above the brick tower has been renovated and reinforced structurally -- Tony Pope presented me with a scanned copy of an engraving of our home that was printed in an 1888 special edition of "The Tribune of Rome". 

It is sort of dark and it occurred to me that Firefly might be able to lighten it up and bring a little more detail out. So I tried it first as a pencil drawing...

Then I tried "oil painting"...

Then I asked it to brighten the oil painting...

Then I asked it to change the paint colors to what we use now...

It is not perfect. It screws up the roof of the bay window and seems to add an extra window barely visible on the far side of the upstairs porch. 

I wish I could restore the slate roof to the original and add a fence and gates like the ones William Wright had.

After fooling with the house picture for a while I wondered what it would do with some old people pictures. We only have one photo of my maternal grandfather who was born before the Civil War and who died in 1932. It is a dark slightly blurry snapshot of him sitting in a chair in the side yard of their little mill house on Hazel Street in Porterdale, Georgia.

Here's the Papa Baird that Firefly gave me...

One of my favorite shots of my beloved Daddy Shaw with one of his cars...

Firefly's oil painting of Milstead's barber, and salesman of Knapp Shoes and Kirby Vacuums and Singer Sewing Machines adds a much more substantial home than the little mill village house on Main Street in Milstead, Georgia!

Suzie Talks Me For a Walk

 Our visit with our Carlin grandkids in California is winding down. Tomorrow we fly back to Georgia. This morning I was thrilled that Susannah wanted to take a walk with me. We began the same route that we'd taken with her sisters a few days ago -- up Anza past the newly renovated house next door then up the private drive to Cabrillo Dr and the big water tank, down the hill to the east a little and then back.

I suggested we sit on the new wall next door right on Anza for a picture.

That was my last contribution to how the walk would go today. Suz is an assertive four-year-old and arranged the rest of the stops and pictures and the turn-around spot. 

Pausing in front of the passion flower vines with her walking stick and just a bit of the roof of her house in the background.

When I asked how much she loves me she used to stretch her arms wide. Now she thinks it's cute to go further and have them meet in a full 360 degrees of love.

We were entiquied by the long tree branch that had grown along a the chain link fence and actually engulfed bits of it.

These showy succulents made another opportunity for a photo.

She sniffed each flower we found and pronounced the scent of each "beautiful".  

The huge water tank the the very top of Cabrillo Drive was another photo op.

When she found a discarded office chair she had to pose in it.

She delighted in the California deep red cousin of our southern Maypop or Passion flower.

What Time Is It Mr. Fox?

 On our last day of this trip to visit with our California grandgirls I was introduced to a playground game that is new to me. 

One of the things I enjoy about these three beautiful and smart girls is how they so easily involve other kids in their games. Very soon after arriving at a park they are busy making friends. 

After playing with other kids in the sand and on the playground equipment soon they were engrossed in this game. One (sometimes two) kids would be Mr. (or Ms.) Fox. Ms. Fox would turn her back as the other kids would gather at the agreed spot maybe twenty yards away. They would call out, "What time is it Ms. Fox?!". The fox would reply by shouting a time and the kids would take that many steps toward the fox. This was repeated until the fox fine responds by shouting "Dinner Time" and turning to chase the other kids. When one is caught that one becomes the fox for the next round. They had a ball. (I should have better pictures!)

The Light

My Mother's 103rd birthday would have been later this week. We lost her in 2021 at the age of 98. Mother had a way with. words and loved to write - sermons, blog posts, letters, and poems. This poem is one of my favorites. 

The Light

My father always left a light for me . . .

Against the nightime shadows . . .

Lovingly.

He left the door unlocked . . .

It opened wide

And I could safely find,

My way inside.

Beyond the grave

I see a light . . . I see

The Lights of home . . . 

God left a light for me.

So I can walk through death.

With faith . . . not fear.

I see the Lights of home,

And God is near.

- Ruth Baird Shaw 1978.

A Morning Walk With Clem, Ruth, & Suz

Today all three girls wanted to join me for a walk!

We posed at the front gate for a picture while we were fresh.

Here we are on the small private road that joins Anza to Cabrillo Drive. The tall skinny tree is actually in back edge of their yard.

We were impressed with how the folks at this house, built right on little Cabrillo Drive, has such nice flowers and succulent plants.

About halfway down the hill to the east are more gorgeous succulents.

Whatever this flower is, it is fragrant!

At the bottom Clem and Ruth started right back up the steep hill leaving Suz and especially me far behind!

But that gave Suzie and me a chance to see this small hawk.

Nearer the top Ms. Juna, a neighbor stopped to say hi and to introduce us to her her husband Scott.

We were tired but happy when we got back.

 

Walking with Clementine

 One of the great joys of my last trip top Vista, California was getting to take several nice long walks with my eldest granddaughter Clementine. Today, a Saturday, was our first opportunity for such a walk on this trip and what a nice walk we had.

We started by walking up the hill off of Anza to the huge water tank on Carillo Dr. There we met a neighbor, Ms. Juna, who showed us the beautiful view from her yard. We could barely make out a bit of the Pacific through the haze. On a clear day she says you can see one of the Channel Islands and even a bit of Catalina Island. 

Toward the bottom of Carrillo Dr. near Smith St. we met another neighbor, Will, walking his dog, and asked him to snap our picture.  

That's where we saw this beautiful Morning Glory.

From Carillo we walked across Smith to Townsite and then across Vista Way to the Nature Trail. There we saw Western Sycamores and talked about their "Christmas balls" and "naked limbs". We saw a hummingbird flitting about but not close enough to catch a good picture.

This Townsend's Warbler was a much more cooperative model...

...flitting from one nearby low branch to another... 

and pretty much completely ignoring us.

Very near the warbler three kids and their father came along. I asked Matteo to snap our picture.

We continued down the Nature Trail to Wildwood Park and then along Vista Way through the little memorial to service members to the old downtown section of Vista.

Vista has lots of public art. Clementine calls this sculpture "The Time Machine".  

At Danny's Donuts I decided to buy a dozen so we could take some back to the rest of the family. Clementine picked out some special ones-- a heart shaped one, and one topped by Oreos. But when we were ready to each eat one she chose a strawberry donut...

...and I chose a blueberry donut.

Right next to Danny's Donuts is a flower stand. Since this is Valentine's Day they were VERY busy. Clementine picked out a beautiful, bouquet to take back to her Granny and her Mom.

Just as we were nearing home again we saw TWO hawks, and while we were looking at the hawks Clem noticed that an airplane was writing a message in the sky. It turned out he had almost finished...

... but we got to see him cross his "A".

When we got home there was a Red Shouldered Hawk right there on a wire near the driveway!